Disclaimer: I can't even give my little brother a Birthday present!! Not that he's really important or anything…

AN: January 13th, my little brother's birthday. *sigh* he's been asking for money, even though he's only 10. Anyways, I hit 70! Thank you so much! Last chapter was a bit odd, but I still got reviews. It's getting harder to keep up with my schedule. Well, hope you enjoy!

Icari
Chapter 29

 "Kirara, is that it?" Miroku turned towards the source of the dark aura, which was just a bit to the left. It sent chills down his spine, as it did the fire cat's, but they kept a steady pace. When the source came into view, he saw that it was a tear in the world, linking it to another. A darker world.

 "I don't even need to ask if they're here, this could only be Inuyasha's work." Miroku bend down to trace the bottom of the door to the other world, surprised when his finger made it larger quite easily, like paper, though outside the door, it was like a wall.

 Both monk and fire cat strode in, the dark world making them shiver, but they ignored it. A looming, black figure stood against the horizon, a castle. Ahead of them, muddy footprints were engraved into the ground, and it was clear that they were the demons'. Miroku climbed back on Kirara and held on as she bounded off again.

*~*~*~*~*

 The guards were too easy. Inuyasha hit one down and Sesshomaru the other. That was it.

 "Makes you wonder; is this a trap?" Yasuo muttered as he half-limped, half stumbled into the castle gates, making the two others exchange a look. The three of them looked up and down every which way, before deciding there were no more traps or anything of the like.

 "I guess not. Come on, I doubt there's anything in there that we can't handle..." Inuyasha trailed off as his eyes followed Yasuo's pace. "Hey there… you alright?" The water demon looked back at the hanyou.

 "I'll be fine, using magic drains me… besides, who knows what you'll need for the final battle?" He shot Inuyasha an unusually boyish grin and kept on walking farther into the castle. The hanyou sighed and ran in.

 While dragging himself inside, Yasuo was lifted into the air and heft on Inuyasha's back from behind. When given a questioning look, Inuyasha scoffed and walked into the castle, muttering his explanation.

 "You have to save your energy."

*~*~*~*~*

 "Guards, guards, and some more guards, how boring does this get?" Icari unceremoniously flung a whole batch of them into the wall, knocking them unconscious. Rin and Kagome relaxed themselves while Sango walked over to the door on the wall.

 "This it?" She asked, and waiting for the response. Icari nodded and sat down, a bit tired of what had happened in the last hour. They had finally found the closet, but it was locked. Kagome walked up to her and looked inside. The lock was an older one, and she could tell how it was secured. She took the long, slender sword from Sango and shoved the tip in as far as she could. Playing around with it, she heard the low groan of the lock undoing and handed the sword back to her friend.

 "How did you do that Kagome?" She shrugged.

 "These are really old locks in my time, and are really simple. Nothing compared to a computer of the math, so it was easy." The young miko replied with a smile. Sango walked around her and pulled the old door open, revealing a small heap of weapons. Icari and Rin Appeared by them and smiled,

 "That's ours." With a grin, they all went in to pick up their weapons and fitting them on. Kagome sighed in relief as she treasured the feel of her own bow and arrows.

 "Nothing like it." Sango agreed as she adjusted Hiraikotsu on her back. Rin and Icari both fingered their staff and sword and murmured an agreement. "Now, we find Naraku?"

 "You bet! This way!" Icari chirped and headed over to their left, so happy to have Tensinshi back she almost ran way ahead of her friends.

*~*~*~*~*

 "What a battle field… it looks like Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Yasuo won." Kirara growled in agreement as she took a few more strides, and landing on the ground not far away from the castle. Miroku climbed off her and waited for the fire cat to transform back before continuing. The world itself stunk of death and corruption.

 They walked the short distance to the entrance, where Miroku stopped. Kirara sniffed around and mewed.

 "Just missed them then? We better hurry; who knows how far in they already are. But first…" A mantra was pulled out of his robes, and Miroku held it in front of him. Chanting, the slip of paper began to grow and after a few minutes, Miroku slapped it on the doorway.

 A white, crystalline spot grew from the mantra, spreading about two or three inches every way.  White footsteps glowed on the floor, resembling two pawed pair or feet and a pair of shoes. They headed to the right, and seemed to of been in a hurry. As quickly as they came, the were gone, and Miroku pulled the scroll off of the wall.

 "How odd…" He shook the mantra of a dark, purplish ooze. Miroku threw it to the ground. "That ooze, it has the same aura as Naraku… it's like, his presence is everywhere…"

 Kirara mewed again. "No, we do have to be very careful. For all we know, the whole castle could be made out of Naraku's tentacles, just waiting to cave in on us." With that, they began walking in the direct the two youkai and hanyou had gone.

*~*~*~*~*

 Something about the castle was bothering him, like, it was alive. It felt… so dark and… Sesshomaru couldn't find the words for it, but it seemed that he was the only one in his group feeling the ominously dark feeling that inhabited the place. Every dark hall had it, and every corner revealed only more. He didn't dare sniff in too much of the air; even it had something in it.

 They turned the corner and bluish white orbs flew by them.

 "Souls?" Inuyasha whispered from his right. Yasuo was gripping onto the hanyou tightly, as if he was trying to stay conscious. His dark eyes focused on the dancing orbs as the turned the corner they had just gone by.

 "Yeah… I can't possibly imagine what they're doing here…" Sesshomaru whipped his head forwards again, listening for an enemy, but instead, he found himself staring into the holes of his father's skull.

 "The hell?" He turned to Yasuo and Inuyasha, but they were gone. He stood, alone, in his father's graveyard, a cold gust playing with his hair. Staring out into the deathly abyss, Sesshomaru saw every detail that he had seen on his last "visit" here.

 "Sesshomaru…" A small, pained voice called out to him, from behind. It was Rin, sitting on the large shoulder blade, a hand to her heart and her eyes looking into his, deep and dead. There was a small patch of blood on her shirt.

 "Rin!" He began to run to her, but she also started to fade away. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, something was telling him it was a trap, but his need to help Rin blinded him, and he felt his foot slip, and his weight beginning to fall…

*~*~*~*~*

 "Gah! You asshole!" Inuyasha gripped at the demon's wrist and tried to pull his unconscious brother out of the endless hole. Sesshomaru was looking up at him, but not really seeing him… he had heard the guy call out Rin's name.

 Sesshomaru blinked and the scenery changed, showing him Inuyasha's half-worried, half-angry face only a bit more than an arm's length away. He looked like he was in deep concentration.

 "Hey bastard, How about trying to get yourself back up? My arm's not going to last forever you know!" Sesshomaru looked down and noticed for the first time that he was hanging in mid-air, only being supported by his little brother, who was holding onto his wrist, and losing grip. He growled deeply, knowing he had just been played a fool by Naraku.

 "On moment…"

*~*~*~*~*

 Icari's right eye glinted in the low moonlight as she smelled Naraku's scent so close. She was just going to have to kick his ass for messing with her and her brothers. As they walked, it was revealed that beyond that door was a large room, where they would drop to. It was completely stone, or something of the like. Not a very decorated place.

 Kagura and Kanna flowed up and appeared in the way, Icari reflexively taking out her sword, a small smirk growing on her face. Behind her, Sango, Kagome and Rin had all their weapons drawn, though not as sure of themselves as she was.

 The three demoness' stood, weapons drawn, watching the other side carefully. Slowly, from the back of the castle to where they stood, it melted away, quite literally, and revealed the scenery outside to everyone. When it was all done, the six women were standing in an open arena, made from nothing but rock. Purple vines rose out of the ground on the sides, and began to creep in closer to the middle, where Icari, Sango, Kagome and Rin stood.

 "It's time, dog, to stop this nonsense." Kagura moved into a fighting stance, her fan out in front her. Icari did the same, her faithful sword held out. Kanna simply flew off to the side while Icari's lot busied themselves with destroying the vines threatening to lace themselves into their legs.

 "Lets, you dainty little wind prancer." It seemed name calling ran in the family. Both smirked, more than ready for this fight, and began to circle.

*~*~*~*~*

 Naraku smirked as he watched the scenes unfold. Sesshomaru had already shown his weakness: a human girl, and the dog woman and his offspring, Kagura, were about to kill each other. Now, what else could he do to make his day more interesting?

 The monk had just arrived…

*~*~*~*~*

Ha ha! Done another chapter!! Next chapter will probably be the finale, since it's all action, then it's just the aftermath and stuff. Now, in every story I've written, a favorite character of mine dies… hmmm, I wonder if this will be the same…